‘All student organization facilities’ will be closed this fall

All student organization facilities will be closed this fall, according to an email from Associate Dean of Undergraduate Students Jarrett Fisher to student organization officers obtained by The Daily Princetonian.

This includes all student group offices, theaters, and practice rooms — as well as Whig Hall, Campus Club, and the Student Publications Center at 48 University Place.

The message has since been posted to the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students (ODUS) website.

“In reviewing the most current public health guidelines, student group facilities are particularly unique. Not only are these indoor spaces intended to be communal, much of the equipment within is shared property, and traditionally accessible without restriction to the day or hour. This makes a frequent and recurring cleaning schedule impractical, and unnecessarily puts our community at risk,” the announcement notes.

"For fall 2020, all student organization facilities will be closed. This includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Practice and rehearsal rooms

• Student group offices

• Theaters and prop rooms

• Storage and costume closets

• Recording and media editing studios

• Whig Hall

• Campus Club

• Student Publications Center at 48 University Place

• Outdoor Action Climbing Wall and Equipment Room"

- Associate Dean of Undergraduate Students Jarrett Fisher in an email to student organization officers

“Prox access to these facilities will remain inactive for the fall term,” according to the ODUS website.

To request “temporary and very limited entry” to their space in exceptional cases, student group officers will need to complete a form a minimum of five business days in advance detailing the nature of their request.

“If approved, an ODUS staff member will be in touch to make arrangements to meet on-site with an officer of the student organization,” the announcement adds. “We expect the majority of requests should come the first two weeks of fall term.”

ODUS “will continue to monitor University policy and public health guidelines, including executive orders for New Jersey” in looking ahead toward the spring semester, according to the message.

In a statement to the ‘Prince,’ University Spokesperson Ben Chang described the message as “another example of how campus will look very different this fall.”

“As VP Calhoun underscored (and Jarrett highlighted), ‘The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic means that we’re far from returning to business as usual,“ Chang wrote.

“Indeed, providing opportunities that contribute to the co-curricular engagement of undergraduates and a robust Princeton experience remain at the heart of ODUS,” Fisher added in his message to student organization leaders. “Yet, the health and safety of students can be second to none.”